Versatility in Versification: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Metrics (Berkeley Insights in Linguistics and Semiotics)

Versatility in Versification grew out of an international conference organized by the University of Iceland and the Nordic Society for Metrical Studies and held at Reykholt, Iceland, the thirteenth-century home of Snorri Sturluson. Although medieval Icelandic poetic culture was highlighted at the conference, the range of subjects remained diverse and discussion became dynamic. Similarly, this volume brings together the work of a broad range of scholars who embark on a discourse across disciplines, addressing aspects of poetry and poetics within the Germanic language family in particular. The subjects range from runic metrical inscriptions to literature and poetics of the modern day, the medieval period becoming a nexus of attention through which the various subjects in this historical scope are interwoven and united. Approaches range from theoretical linguistics and generative metrics to cognitive theory and folkloristics. The discourse initiated at the conference has both continued and expanded during this volume’s evolution, and it has significantly enriched the development of the individual chapters, which variously treat meters, their relationships to language, and poetics in application. These diverse subjects and approaches form remarkable constellations of complementary relationships and continue to engage in a discourse to the immense benefit of the reader.

The Editors: Tonya Kim Dewey received her Ph.D. in Germanic linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, where she has since been teaching Germanic literature and linguistics. Her interest in Icelandic poetics led her to Iceland as a Fulbright Fellow during the 2004-2005 academic year.
Frog received his M.Phil. in Scandinavian Studies from University College London, where he is completing his dissertation on transmission, persistence, and change in oral traditions. Frog was a Fulbright Fellow in Finland during the 2000-2001 academic year and a Folklore Fellow in 2007. He is currently a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki in the Department of Folklore.